Up until last Tuesday night’s trip to Crisafulli Rink to face Oswego, the Skaneateles girls ice hockey team had not ventured outside Duke Schneider Rink for a game.
But it turned out that the road did absolutely nothing to affect the quality of the Lakers’ play as, moving to 3-0 on the season, Skaneateles survived early struggles to break free in the second period and roll to a 9-1 victory over the Buccaneers.
It was the Lakers’ defense making the biggest early impact, keeping Oswego off the board in the first period. Still, at intermission, it was only 1-0, so the homestanding Bucs clung to some hope.
All of that vanished once the second period got underway. Right away, Skaneateles made it 2-0, and five more goals followed by the time the horn sounded, turning a tight contest into a 7-0 margin that only increased in the final period.
Megan Teachout led this big push, producing a three-goal hat trick and adding an assist. It was Teachout’s second hat trick of the season, as she had also netted three goals in the Lakers’ 10-0 shutout of Ithaca a week earlier.
Sophia Kush and Allison Weiss both scored twice, Kush adding an assist as Abby Kuhns got a goal and two assists. Ioanna Christou had the other goal as Cecily Kawejszak, Sophia Burns and Heather Tanzella earned one assist apiece.
Oswego’s Stephanie Kubis broke up the shutout with a third-period goal, but otherwise the Lakers dominated play, out-shooting the Bucs 50-8.
Back home at Schneider Rink Friday night, Skaneateles took on Massena, and this was far closer than some of the Lakers’ earlier contests, but it still battled past the Red Raiders by a score of 5-2.
The difference was Skaneateles bolting out to a 3-0 first-period lead and also spreading around its production, as five different players netted the five goals.
Teachout again spear-headed the attack, joining Burns as they both picked up a goal and two assists. Kush had one goal and one assist, with Weiss and Campbell Torrey getting the other tallies. Kuhns, Christou and Anne Rubel had one assist apiece as goalie Johnna Halko blanked Massena until the third period, finishing with 18 saves.
In another big home game Tuesday night, Skaneateles was scheduled to face Alexandria Bay in a rematch of last year’s Section III final at Allyn Arena won 2-0 by the Islanders.
